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Vikings Host La Roche
Dec. 19, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
• 2008-09 Men's Basketball Promotions Game 12 Complete Release in PDF Format
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home for the holidays to start a three-game home stand that will take the Vikings to the resumption of the league schedule. CSU hosts La Roche on Saturday, Dec. 20 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be another Family Value Saturday with the free Kidszone being open an hour before tipoff and dollar dogs available at all concession stands. In addition, fans can take advantage of an Alley-Oop Online special for the game, downloading a form off of CSUVikings.com which will allow them to receive a free replica CSU game jersey for each $15 ticket purchased. The Vikings enter the game with a 7-4 record after sweeping games at Marist (66-47) and No. 11 Syracuse (72-69) over the weekend. La Roche, an NCAA Division III school from Pittsburgh, is 6-3 on the year, winning all six home games and dropping all three road contests. PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: After last year becoming one of at least 16 teams in NCAA history to go from losing 20 games in one season to winning 20 the next, the Vikings are quickly returning to the form that earned them their first post-season bid in 20 years. The lineup is centered around the group of seven returning players who keyed the success last year, including the duo of forward J'Nathan Bullock (13.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and point guard Cedric Jackson (9.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.1 apg), both of whom were named to the five-player Preseason All-Horizon League first team this year. Earning spots in the starting lineup are the sophomore duo of off-guard Norris Cole (11.8, 2.5) and small forward D'Aundray Brown (8.6, 5.6). Senior Chris Moore (5.2, 3.5) has started each game at center with seniors George Tandy (4.2, 4.8) and Renard Fields (1.2, 0.8) each factoring significantly into the playing rotation. The final three spots in the rotation come from the group consisting of sophomore guard Eric Schiele (3.6, 1.5) and freshmen guards Josh McCoy (0.8, 1.1), Jeremey Montgomery (3.4, 1.5 assists) and Trevon Harmon, who became eligible at the semester. HEAD COACH Gary Waters: The reigning Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year, Gary Waters has needed just three seasons to convert Cleveland State into one of the top programs in the Horizon League. A 34-year collegiate coaching veteran, he owns a 209-173 record in 13 seasons as a head coach and a 38-38 mark in his third season at CSU, taking seven of his first 12 squads to post-season play. He posted a 92-60 record in five seasons at Kent State, making NCAA appearances in both 1998-99 and 2000-01 and becoming the third coach in Mid-American Conference history to be named league coach of the year in successive years. Waters moved to Rutgers in 2001-02, compiling a 79-75 mark in five seasons, including three trips to the NIT. Waters, who led the Vikings to a 21-13 mark last year, earned his 200th career win on Feb. 23, 2008 when the Vikings defeated Marist. CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: Senior Cedric Jackson, the Horizon League leader in both assists (5.1) and steals (2.9), ranks 14th nationally in steals and 66th in assists in the latest NCAA statistics, which were released on Monday (Dec. 15). In addition, sophomore D'Aundray Brown is 84th in steals (2.1). As a team, CSU ranks in the top 35 nationally in five defensive categories, ranking 19th in steals (9.8), 21st in scoring defense (57.0), 29th in field goal defense (.375), 31st in turnover margin (+4.3) and 34th in three-point field goal defense (.284). VIKINGS STAY AT 15TH IN MID-MAJOR POLL: With wins over Marist and Syracuse over the weekend, the Vikings remained at 15th in the most recent Mid-Major Basketball Poll, which was released on Dec. 16. The Vikings, who ended the 2007-08 season unranked, received 290 votes (41 more than last week) to be one of three Horizon League teams to make the poll (Butler 5th, UIC 16th). Gonzaga continues to be ranked first with Davidson being second. The poll, which is sponsored by CollegeInsider.com, is released each Tuesday throughout the season. THE HEAVENLY HEAVE: When Cedric Jackson tossed in a 60-footer at the buzzer to give Cleveland State a 72-69 win at Syracuse on Monday night, it gave CSU its third ever win against a ranked opponent (3-27 overall). After having a 19-game losing streak to ranked opponents against Butler last year, the Vikings have now won two of their last three meetings against ranked teams. The victory also came against CSU's highest ranked opponent ever. Syracuse was ranked 11th with the previous wins coming over 14th-ranked Indiana in 1986 and 12th-ranked Butler last year. . . . AND THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE DOME: There was a comfortable feel to the Carrier Dome when CSU knocked off 12th-ranked Syracuse on Monday. After all, in their only previous visit to the dome, the Vikings had defeated 14th-ranked Indiana and St. Joseph's in the first two rounds of the 1986 NCAA Tournament to become the first true Cinderella story of the NCAA Championship. With the win, CSU is now 3-0 in the building, including two of the three wins over a ranked opponent in program history. COLE LIKES THE BCS: There is something about playing a big game that gets sophomore Norris Cole to elevate his game to a higher level. After all, in the four games this season against the high major -- or BCS schools -- Cole is averaging 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.5 steals, shooting .458 from the field (27-59). He scored a career high 20 points with nine rebounds vs. Washington, tallied 17 points vs. Kansas State, 16 at Syracuse and 12 against West Virginia, giving him four of his top five scoring efforts against BCS schools. BULLOCK BREAKS INTO SCORING TOP 10: A 16-point effort against Florida International on Nov. 26 allowed J'Nathan Bullock to break into the CSU career scoring top 10. With 1,391 points during his career, Bullock ranks 10th all-time. He passed both Jamaal Harris (1998-2002) and Dave Youdath (1980-84), who were 11th and 10th, respectively with 1,304 and 1,306 points. Bullock is quickly closing in on ninth place Eric Mudd, whose 1,402 points puts him just 11 points ahead of Bullock. With 18 points, he will pass both Jermaine Robinson (2000-04) and Weldon Kytle (1961-65) and into seventh place. BACK & FORTH ACTION: The best example of how close Monday's game at Syracuse was is that in the 40 minutes of action, the game was tied 16 times and there were 15 lead changes. That is quite a contrast to the rest of the season as heading into the contest, the first 10 games combined produced only 14 ties and 20 lead changes. MOORE, MOORE, MOORE: After dropping 25 pounds during the off-season, senior Chris Moore is beginning to see the results of that hard work. He has found his shooting touch over the last nine games, making 26 of his last 45 field goal attempts (.578) to break out of a mini-scoring slump that saw him go scoreless in the first two games of the year. For the year, Moore is averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds a game, shooting .491 from the field (26-53). MONTGOMERY STEPS UP: The trip to Florida proved to be beneficial for freshman guard Jeremy Montgomery. After going scoreless with one assist while playing just 11 combined minutes in the first three games, the freshman from Chicago emerged as a reliable member of the playing rotation, averaging 6.7 points, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 15.0 minutes in the three games. His breakout game came against Toledo when he set career highs for points (10), assists (4), steals (4) and minutes played (20), going four-for-six from the field. More importantly, he was three-for-nine from three-point in the tourney, helping CSU to improve its outside shooting effort. . . . AND SHOWS IT AGAIN AT SYRACUSE: Montgomery was one of just two reserves used by Gary Waters against Syracuse and the moved paid off as he made three-of-his four field goal attempts, including an important three-pointer that put CSU ahead, 50-48, with 8:24 left. He finished with seven points with one assist and one steal in 16 minutes of action. BUILDING A HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: When Gary Waters took over as head coach in the spring of 2006, he made note of the team's 5-10 home record the year before and indicated that for the program to succeed, the Wolstein Center would have to become a much more difficult place to play. The Vikings accomplished that goal in 2007-08 when CSU set a school record for wins in a season by going 12-2 in games played in the Wolstein Center. CSU was also 8-1 in league games, falling just short of the perfect 9-0 home league record in 1992-93. With a 2-2 home mark this year (1-1 in league play), CSU is now 14-4 on campus over the last two seasons, a considerable improvement over the 25-42 over the previous five seasons. BULLOCK EXTENDS STARTING STREAK: With starts in every game this season, senior J'Nathan Bullock extended his starting streak to 80 consecutive games, passing Weldon Kytle (1961-65) to take over the fourth-longest streak in school history. He needs three more starts to catch Darren Tillis (1978-82), who is in third place with 83 consecutive starts, and if he stays healthy, he could catch record-holder Ken McFadden (1985-89), who started 86 straight games, in January. . . . AND GAME 105 IS NEXT FOR BULLOCK: When J'Nathan Bullock takes the court for the La Roche game, it will be the 105th game of his CSU career. With at least 20 games left in the season (counting at least one game in the Horizon League Championship), Bullock has a chance to at least tie the school record for games played in a career (and consecutive games played in a career) which is currently being held by both Eddie Bryant and Clinton Ransey with 125 games played from 1983-87. JACKSON IS A STEAL: With 88 steals during the 2007-08 season, Cedric Jackson not only ran away with the Horizon League steal title, but he also posted the third-highest single season steal total in school history. Jackson's 2.59 steals per game easily topped Green Bay's Terry Evans, who was second with 1.97 steals a contest. The 88 steals trailed only Kenny Robertson, who set the school record with 111 thefts in 1988-89 and had 90 steals in 1987-88. On a national basis, Jackson ranked ninth among Division I players in steals last year. . . . AND THIS YEAR HAS BEEN NO DIFFERENT: Although Cleveland State has played just 11 games this year, senior Cedric Jackson has defensively been in perfect form, making 32 steals to lead the Horizon League (and rank 14th nationally) with 2.9 steals a game and putting himself ahead of last year's 2.6 steals a game pace. Jackson has had multiple steals in all but one game this year, including a season-high five against both Washington and Toledo, giving him 36 multiple steal games in his CSU career (45 games). 1,000 POINTS & 500 BOARDS FOR BULLOCK: Senior J'Nathan Bullock began the 2008-09 season as one of 10 players in CSU history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds during a career. Bullock, who enters Saturday's game with 1,391 points and 629 rebounds, is striving to become the only player in Viking annals with 1,500 points and 750 rebounds. . . . AND ANOTHER 1,000 & 500 MILESTONE IS REACHED: A perfect five-for-five effort from the line against Kansas State on Nov. 22 allowed J'Nathan Bullock to become the fifth player in school history to attempt 1,000 field goals and 500 free throws in a career. Bullock enters the La Roche game with 1,111 field goal attempts and 535 free throw attempts. He joins Ken McFadden (1,639 field goals, 761 free throws), Clinton Ransey (1,511, 604), Franklin Edwards (1,807, 520) and Theo Dixon (1,291, 504) as the only Vikings with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. BOARD WORK REQUIRED: One thing that is obvious from watching the Vikings during their first 10 games is that rebounding is going to be a factor in every game this year. Last year, CSU became the first team in Horizon League history to win the conference rebounding title (+3.1 rpg) after finishing last in rebounding the year before (-3.5). But that accomplishment has meant nothing to date as the Vikings have been out-rebounded in seven of the first 10 games, owning a -1.7 rebounding margin to rank fifth in the league this campaign. Last year's rebounding total was CSU's first positive rebounding margin since 2000-01. A FOUL CALL: Although Cleveland State committed 679 personal fouls a year ago, the fourth-highest single season total in school history, the Vikings didn't allow the fouls to hurt them, setting a school record by having just three players foul out of games during the season. Cedric Jackson (at Kent State), D'Aundray Brown (Green Bay) and Chris Moore (at Dayton) each fouled out of a game once during the year, allowing the Vikings to break the old record low of five players fouling out, which was set in 1985-86. . . . AND THE TRADITION CONTINUES: Through 11 games this season, the Vikings have had just one player foul out of a game, that coming when Chris Moore picked up his fifth personal with 1:58 left in the Dec. 6 game at West Virginia. BULLOCK GOING FOR A 4TH SCORING CROWN: It took him six games, but senior J'Nathan Bullock is finally in a familiar position, taking over the team lead in scoring (he is averaging 13.9 ppg entering the La Roche game). Bullock is attempting to become only the third player in CSU history to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons. He started the streak as a freshman in 2005-06 when he was one of three Vikings in double figures for the year, averaging 11.3 points a game, the lowest average ever by a player who led the team. Bullock improved his average to 13.5 points in 2006-07 and trailed Cedric Jackson for most of last season until exploding for 39 points against Green Bay to take over the scoring lead for good. Bullock would join Franklin Edwards (1977-81) and Weldon Kytle (1961-65) as the only four-time scoring leaders. BULLOCK NAMED HORIZON LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games last week in leading Cleveland State to the title at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Miami, Fla., J'Nathan Bullock has been named the Horizon League Player of the Week. It is the first time that the senior has received the award. Bullock started the week out right, scoring 22 points with nine rebounds in the win over Saint Leo, his 14th 20-point game in his CSU career. He followed that up with 10 points and six rebounds in the blowout of Toledo and capped off his week by tallying a game-high 16 points with seven rebounds vs. FIU. DUO NAMED TO ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE SQUAD: The senior tandem of J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson have each been named to the 2008-09 Horizon League Preseason first team. The selection, which was made in a balloting of the league head coaches, sports information directors and select media, marks the first time in program history that the Vikings put two players on the preseason first team. Bullock, a 6'5" 240-pound forward from Flint, Mich., was a first team all-league choice last year after leading the team in scoring (14.8) and rebounding (6.6). Jackson, a 6'3" guard was second on the team in scoring (13.9) while leading the team in both assists (168) and steals (88). JACKSON MAKES A KING-LY FIGURE: As part of tvvhe pre-season opening Viking Madness event, Viking senior Cedric Jackson and women's basketball junior Angel Roque were selected CSU's 2008 Homecoming King and Queen, respectively. NEXT UP: The Vikings remain at home to host Kent State on Tuesday, Dec. 23 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CSU then closes the holiday home stand against Notre Dame College on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 1:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
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